I am a 15-year-old girl
and I would like to share my
opinion about the shows that
are on television and some of
the new movies. I am offended
by what has been on TV. I think
TV shows nowadays are strictly
for guys and girls that don't
mind looking at half naked girls.
My reason for saying this is
that every time I go to watch
something on TV I either see
a commercial for a show or movie
or I see a TV show that is flaunting
girls with big chests and thin
stomachs. It seems to me that
almost everything I have seen
on TV has been showing off women
in their underwear; it seems
that people are trying to bring
back the 70's where the only
thing that mattered was sex
and drugs. All the things on
TV have had to do with sex.
I know of many shows that support
my opinion. I don't have a problem
with the shows that talk about
sex or movies that have a sex
scene in them, it's the movies
and shows that were created
to flaunt sex and they have
no story line. The shows and
movies that I am talking about
are: Ally McBeal, Married with
children, That 70's Show, Unhappily
Ever After, some episodes of
Jenny Jones, American Pie, Austin
Powers, "Dick", Drop Dead Gorgeous,
and some others that I haven't
listed.

I'll tell you about what
I've seen on TV just to give
you a few examples. Last night
my dad was watching Ally McBeal
and I've seen the commercials
for the episode that was on.
The commercial had a blonde
girl standing in front of a
guy and she was wearing a bra
and her underwear. The part
of the show I saw there was
a guy talking to a girl about
them having sex and the girl
was talking about how she liked
foreplay and she was sucking
on the guy's finger. I saw commercials
for That 70's show and the episode
was supposed to be about someone's
parents were going to be away
for a weekend. From what I saw
the kids were all going to be
sleeping together. About Jenny
Jones I watch her show so I'm
really not in a position to
bash the show but there are
episodes where there's girls
running around the screen in
bikinis or shirts that show
off their chests. Jenny Jones
does have guys on her shows
that are half-naked but I want
to see them as much as I want
to see the half-naked girls.

I think I've seen plenty of
commercials to explain some of
American Pie. From what I've seen
this movie has no story line all
it seems to be is girls taking
their clothes off, guys watching
porno movies, and sex. As I can
remember in one of the commercials
and on the radio I did hear them
say it was the biggest "sex comedy
of the year." Now I can't really
judge the movie that much because
I haven't seen it I'm just going
by the commercials they put on
TV. Out of all these shows I have
only watched Ally McBeal, Unhappily
ever after, Married with Children,
Jenny Jones, and that 70's show.
I thank you for taking time to
read my letter. With everything
I've said I would also like to
add that when I watch something
on TV and they're talking about
young girls getting pregnant it
makes me think back to how the
shows that are put on TV encourage
teens to have sex. Especially
with the new shows that are to
be aired this fall. I thank you
again for reading this and I hope
to hear from you soon. - Kati,
Sacramento

Thanks for your note to Feminist.com--and
for sharing your concerns about
TV Today with me. Unfortunately,
I don't watch enough TV to be
able to add much of my own opinion
to your concerns. However, I
believe everything that you
have said--and based on conversations
with and feedback from other
people--I know that you are
not alone in feeling cheated
by TV viewing experiences.

I think that it is certainly
important to voice you concerns
about TV--and mostly, I think
that you should voice these
concerns directly to the networks
that are airing them. Taking
it one step further, you should
even complain to the advertisers
who buy advertising time during
those shows. They certainly
have weight with the actual
networks.

Besides complaining about what
currently exists, you should
also make suggestions about
what you want to see. Something
else you might want to do is
to visit Girls,
Inc.-- they have a "Girls
Re-Cast TV Action Kit". We
also have an article about this
called Girls
Talk TV here at the site.

I hope this gives you incentive
to spread your complaints far
and wide. Certainly, your opinions
will resonate with many others.